Adaptive network discovery signaling

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for adaptive network discovery signaling. Information is collected in a database of events, such as the discovery of a new station. The event information (e.g., new station, antenna sectors, active links) is shared with a central coordinator, or other stations in the network. Based on events, at this or other stations, signal transmission forms are adapted, for example for transmitting the beacon signals and notification signals. Adaptations of signal transmission include changing how frequently signaling is performed, timing of signaling, adjusting beam width, and/or adjusting directionality.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/566,584 filed on Oct. 2,2017, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF COMPUTER PROGRAM APPENDIX

Not Applicable

NOTICE OF MATERIAL SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the material in this patent document may be subject tocopyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States andof other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objectionto the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent andTrademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does nothereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintainedin secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37C.F.R. § 1.14.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The technology of this disclosure pertains generally to wirelessnetworks, and more particularly to adaptive network discovery signaling.

2. Background Discussion

Existing sub-6 GHz wireless technology is not sufficient to cope withthe high demand for data in wireless networks. One easy alternative isutilizing more spectrum in the 30-300 GHz band which is referred to asthe millimeter wave band (mmW), which are becoming increasinglyimportant.

Enabling mmW wireless systems in general requires properly dealing withthe channel impairments and propagation characteristics of the highfrequency bands. High free-space path loss, high penetration, reflectionand diffraction losses reduce the available diversity and limitnon-line-of-sight (NLOS) communications.

The small wavelength of mmW enables the use of high-gain electronicallysteerable directional antennas of practical dimensions. This technologycan provide enough array gain to overcome path loss and ensure highSignal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at the receiver. Using directional meshnetworks in dense deployment environments and the mmW band provides anefficient way to achieve reliable communications between nodes andovercome line-of-sight channel restrictions.

A new communication node (station) starting up in an area will besearching for neighboring nodes to discover and a network to join. Theprocess of initial access from a new node to a network comprisesscanning for neighboring nodes and discovering all active local nodes.This can be performed either through the new node searching for aspecific network/list of networks to join or the new node sending abroadcast request to join any already established network that willaccept the new node.

A node connecting to a mesh network needs to discover all neighboringnodes to decide on the best way to reach a gateway/portal mesh node andthe capabilities of each of these neighboring nodes. The new nodeexamines every channel for possible neighboring nodes for a specificperiod of time. If no active node is detected after that specific time,the node moves to the next channel.

When a node is detected, the new node needs to collect sufficientavailable information to configure itself (its PHY layer) for operationin the regulatory domain. This task is further challenging in mmWavecommunications due to directional transmissions. The challenges in thisprocess can be summarized as: (a) knowledge of surrounding node IDs; (b)knowledge of best transmission pattern for beamforming; (c) maintainingthe whole network in synchronization over the entire period of time; (d)channel access issues due to collisions and deafness; and (e) channelimpairments due to blockage and reflections.

Thus, improved neighborhood discovery methods are sought to overcomesome or all of the above issues to enable pervasiveness of mmWavedevice-to-device (D2D) and mesh technologies. However, existingtechnologies for mesh networking address mesh discovery solutions fornetworks operating in broadcast mode, but are not directed for use onnetworks having directional wireless communications.

Accordingly, a need exists for enhanced network discovery signalingwithin directional (mmW) wireless communication networks. The presentdisclosure fulfills that need and provides additional benefits overprevious technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Wireless communication apparatus and method using directionaltransmissions and signaling to enhance network discovery. The stationsmay perform network discovery in a distributed mode and/or a centralcoordinator mode, by exchanging information on new stations betweenthemselves and/or with a central coordinator. The type of signaltransmission to be performed is determined, and then transmitted, by theindividual station or a central coordinator. Network stations adaptsignal transmission (e.g., frequency, beam width and/or timing) to aidin scanning the network as indicated in the received information.

A number of terms are utilized in the disclosure whose meanings aregenerally described below.

A-BFT: Association-Beamforming Training period; a period announced inthe beacons that is used for association and BF training of new stations(STAs) joining the network.

AP: Access Point; an entity that contains one station (STA) and providesaccess to the distribution services, through the wireless medium (WM)for associated STAs.

Beamforming (BF): a directional transmission that does not use anOmni-directional antenna pattern or quasi-omni directional antennapattern. Beamforming is used at a transmitter to improve received signalpower or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at an intended receiver.

BI: The Beacon Interval is a cyclic super frame period that representsthe time between beacon transmission times.

BSS: Basic Service Set; a set of stations (STAs) that have successfullysynchronized with an AP in the network.

BSSID: Basic Service Set Identification.

BHI: Beacon Header Interval which contains a beacon transmissioninterval (BTI) and association-beamforming training period (A-BFT).

BI: Beacon Interval, is a cyclic super-frame period that represents thetime between transmission times.

BTI: Beacon Transmission Interval, is the interval between successivebeacon transmissions.

CBAP: Contention-Based Access Period; the time period within the datatransfer interval (DTI) of a directional multi-gigabit (DMG) BSS wherecontention-based enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) is used.

DTI: Data Transfer Interval; the period whereby full BF training ispermitted followed by actual data transfer. It can include one or moreservice periods (SPs) and contention-based access periods (CBAPs).

MAC address: a Medium Access Control (MAC) address.

MBSS: Mesh basic service set, A basic service set (BSS) that forms aself-contained network of Mesh Stations (MSTAs), and which may be usedas a distribution system (DS).

MCS: Modulation and coding scheme; an index that can be translated intothe PHY layer data rate.

MSTA: Mesh station (MSTA): A station (STA) that implements the Meshfacility. An MSTA that operates in the Mesh BSS may provide thedistribution services for other MSTAs.

Omni-directional: a non-directional antenna mode of transmission.

Quasi-Omni directional: a directional multi-gigabit (DMG) antennaoperating mode with the widest beamwidth attainable.

RSSI: Receive Signal Strength Indicator (in dBm).

Receive sector sweep (RXSS): Reception of Sector Sweep (SSW) frames viadifferent sectors, in which a sweep is performed between consecutivereceptions.

SLS: Sector-level Sweep phase: a BF training phase that can include asmany as four components: an Initiator Sector Sweep (ISS) to train theinitiator, a Responder Sector Sweep (RSS) to train the responder link,such as using SSW Feedback and an SSW ACK.

SNR: received Signal-to-Noise Ratio in dB.

SP: Service Period; The SP that is scheduled by the access point (AP).Scheduled SPs start at fixed intervals of time.

Spectral efficiency: The information rate that can be transmitted over agiven bandwidth in a specific communication system, usually expressed inbits/sec/Hz.

STA: Station; a logical entity that is a singly addressable instance ofa medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to thewireless medium (WM).

Sweep: a sequence of transmissions, separated by a short beamforminginterframe space (SBIFS) interval, in which the antenna configuration atthe transmitter or receiver is changed between transmissions.

SSW: Sector Sweep, is an operation in which transmissions are performedin different sectors (directions) and information collected on receivedsignals, strengths and so forth.

Transmit Sector Sweep (TXSS): transmission of multiple Sector Sweep(SSW) or Directional Multi-gigabit (DMG) Beacon frames via differentsectors, in which a sweep is performed between consecutivetransmissions.

Further aspects of the technology described herein will be brought outin the following portions of the specification, wherein the detaileddescription is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodimentsof the technology without placing limitations thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The technology described herein will be more fully understood byreference to the following drawings which are for illustrative purposesonly:

FIG. 1 is a timing diagram of active scanning performed in an IEEE802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN).

FIG. 2 is a node diagram for a mesh network showing a combination ofmesh and non-mesh stations.

FIG. 3 is a data field diagram depicting a mesh identification elementfor an IEEE 802.11 WLAN.

FIG. 4 is a data field diagram depicting a mesh configuration elementfor an IEEE 802.11 WLAN.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of antenna sector sweeping (SSW) in the IEEE802.11ad protocol.

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram showing signaling of sector-level sweeping(SLS) in the IEEE 802.11ad protocol.

FIG. 7 is a data field diagram depicting a sector sweep (SSW) frameelement for IEEE 802.11ad.

FIG. 8 is a data field diagram depicting the SSW field within the SSWframe element for IEEE 802.11ad.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are data field diagrams depicting SSW feedbackfields shown when transmitted as part of an ISS in FIG. 9A, and when nottransmitted as part of an ISS in FIG. 9B, as utilized for IEEE 802.11ad.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of station hardware according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a beam pattern diagram generated by a mmW antenna systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B is a beam pattern diagram of beam patternadaptation as utilized according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a wireless node topology example of wireless mmWave nodes ina wireless network as utilized according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 14 is the wireless node topology of FIG. 13, showing wirelessmmWave nodes performing typical beacon transmission using fine beams.

FIG. 15 is the wireless node topology of FIG. 13, showing wirelessmmWave nodes performing adaptive beacon transmission according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B is an information exchange sequence among stationsusing distributed management of adaptive beacon transmission accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is an information exchange sequence among stations usingcentralized management of adaptive beacon transmission according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B is a flow diagram of monitoring for adaptivebeacon transmission according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B is a flow diagram for event extraction foradaptive beacon transmission according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 is a data field diagram for an event data frame according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram for event data and notification for adaptivebeacon transmission according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram for parsing data for adaptive beacontransmission according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram for event data reception at a central serverfor adaptive beacon transmission according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 24A through FIG. 24C are a flow diagram for an action decisionroutine for adaptive beacon transmission according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 25 is a data field diagram for a notification frame according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 26 is a signal form adaptation diagram showing signal form changesfor a first case utilized according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 27 is a signal form adaptation diagram showing signal form changesfor a second case utilized according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 28 is a signal form adaptation diagram showing beam width changesof the signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is a signal form adaptation diagram showing beam directionchanges utilized according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 30 is a signal form adaptation diagram showing a combination ofsignal form changes as utilized according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 1. Existing Directional Wireless Network Technology1.1. WLAN Systems

In WLAN systems, 802.11 defines two modes of scanning; passive andactive scanning. The following are the characteristics of passivescanning. (a) A new station (STA), attempting to join a network,examines each channel and waits for beacon frames for up toMaxChannelTime. (b) If no beacon is received, then the new STA moves toanother channel, thus saving battery power since the new STA does nottransmit any signal in scanning mode. The STA should wait enough time ateach channel so that it does not miss the beacons. If a beacon is lost,the STA should wait for another beacon transmission interval (BTI).

The following are the characteristics of active scanning. (a) A new STAwanting to join a local network sends probe request frames on eachchannel, according to the following. (a)(1) STA moves to a channel,waits for incoming frames or a probe delay timer to expire. (a)(2) If noframe is detected after the timer expires, the channel is considered tobe not in use. (a)(3) If a channel is not in use, the STA moves to a newchannel. (a)(4) If a channel is in use, the STA gains access to themedium using regular DCF and sends a probe request frame. (a)(5) The STAwaits for a desired period of time (e.g., Minimum Channel Time) toreceive a response to the probe request if the channel was never busy.The STA waits for more time (e.g., Maximum Channel Time) if the channelwas busy and a probe response was received.

(b) A Probe Request can use a unique service set identifier (SSID), listof SSIDs or a broadcast SSID. (c) Active scanning is prohibited in somefrequency bands. (d) Active scanning can be a source of interference andcollision, especially if many new STAs arrive at the same time and areattempting to access the network. (e) Active scanning is a faster way(more rapid) for STAs to gain access to the network compared to the useof passive scanning, since STAs do not need to wait for beacons. (f) Ininfrastructure basic service set (BSS) and IBSS, at least one STA isawake to receive and respond to probes. (g) STAs in mesh basic serviceset (MBSS) might not be awake at any point of time to respond. (h) Whenradio measurement campaigns are active, nodes might not answer the proberequests. (i) Collision of probe responses can arise. STAs mightcoordinate the transmission of probe responses by allowing the STA thattransmitted the last beacon to transmit the first Probe Response. Othernodes can follow and use back-off times and regular distributedcoordination function (DCF) channel access to avoid collision.

FIG. 1 depicts the use of active scanning in an IEEE 802.11 WLAN,depicting a scanning station sending a probe and two responding stationswhich receive and respond to the probe. The figure also shows theminimum and maximum probe response timing. The values G1 is shown set toSIFS which is the interframe spacing prior to transmission of anacknowledgment, while G3 is DIFS which is DCF interframe spacing,represented the time delay for which a sender waits after completing abackoff period before sending an RTS package.

1.2. IEEE 802.11s Mesh WLAN

The IEEE 802.11s (hereafter 802.11s) is a standard that adds wirelessmesh networking capabilities to the 802.11 standard. In 802.11s newtypes of radio stations are defined as well as new signaling to enablemesh network discovery, establishing peer-to-peer connection, androuting of data through the mesh network.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a mesh network where a mix of non-meshSTA connect to Mesh-STA/AP (solid lines) and Mesh STAs connect to othermesh STA (dotted lines) including a mesh portal. Nodes in mesh networksuse the same scanning techniques defined in the 802.11 standard fordiscovering neighbors. The identification of the mesh network is givenby the Mesh ID element contained in the Beacon and the Probe Responseframes. In one mesh network, all mesh STAs use the same mesh profile.Mesh profiles are considered the same if all parameters in the meshprofiles match. The mesh profile is included in the Beacon and ProbeResponse frames, so that the mesh profile can be obtained by itsneighbor mesh STAs through the scan.

When a mesh STA discovers a neighbor mesh STA through the scanningprocess, the discovered mesh STA is considered a candidate peer meshSTA. It may become a member of the mesh network, of which the discoveredmesh STA is a member, and establish a mesh peering with the neighbormesh STA. The discovered neighbor mesh STA may be considered a candidatepeer mesh STA when the mesh STA uses the same mesh profile as thereceived Beacon or Probe Response frame indicates for the neighbor meshSTA.

The mesh STA attempts to maintain the discovered neighbor's informationin a Mesh Neighbors Table which includes: (a) neighbor MAC address; (b)operating channel number; and (c) the most recently observed link statusand quality information. If no neighbors are detected, the mesh STAadopts the Mesh ID for its highest priority profile and remains active.All the previous signaling to discover neighbor mesh STAs are performedin broadcast mode. It should be appreciated that 802.11s was nottargeted for networks with directional wireless communications.

FIG. 3 depicts a Mesh Identification element (Mesh ID element) which isused to advertise the identification of a Mesh Network. Mesh ID istransmitted in a Probe request, by a new STA willing to join a meshnetwork, and in beacon and signals, by existing mesh network STAs. AMesh ID field of length 0 indicates the wildcard Mesh ID, which is usedwithin a Probe Request frame. A wildcard Mesh ID is a specific ID thatprevents a non-mesh STA from joining a mesh network. It should berecognized that a mesh station is a STA that has more features than anon-mesh station, for example, it is like having the STA running as amodule in additional to some other modules to serve the meshfunctionality. If the STA does not have this mesh module it should notbe allowed to connect to a mesh network.

FIG. 4 depicts a Mesh configuration element as contained in Beaconframes and Probe Response frames transmitted by mesh STAs, and it isused to advertise mesh services. The main contents of the MeshConfiguration elements are: (a) a path selection protocol identifier;(b) a path selection metric identifier; (c) a congestion control modeidentifier; (d) a synchronization method identifier; and (e) anauthentication protocol identifier. The contents of the MeshConfiguration Element together with the Mesh ID form a mesh profile.

The standard 802.11a defines many procedures and mesh functionalitiesincluding: mesh discovery, mesh peering management, mesh security, meshbeaconing and synchronization, mesh coordination function, mesh powermanagement, mesh channel switching, three address, four address, andextended address frame formats, mesh path selection and forwarding,interworking with external networks, intra-mesh congestion control andemergency service support in mesh BSS.

1.3. Millimeter Wave in WLAN

WLANs in millimeter wave bands generally require the use of directionalantennas for transmission, reception or both, to account for the highpath loss and to provide sufficient SNR for communication. Usingdirectional antennas in transmission or reception makes the scanningprocess directional as well. IEEE 802.11ad and the new standard 802.11aydefine procedures for scanning and beamforming for directionaltransmission and reception over the millimeter wave band.

1.4. IEEE 802.11ad Scanning and BF Training

An example of a mmWave WLAN state-of-the-art system is the 802.11adstandard.

1.4.1. Scanning

A new STA operates on passive or active scanning modes to scan for aspecific SSID, a list of SSIDs, or all discovered SSIDs. To passivelyscan, a STA scans for DMG beacon frames containing the SSID. To activelyscan: a DMG STA transmit Probe Request frames containing the desiredSSID or one or more SSID List elements. The DMG STA might also have totransmit DMG Beacon frames or perform beamforming training prior to thetransmission of Probe Request frames.

1.4.2. BF Training

BF training is a bidirectional sequence of BF training frametransmissions that uses a sector sweep and provides the necessarysignaling to allow each STA to determine appropriate antenna systemsettings for both transmission and reception.

The 802.11ad BF training process can be performed in three phases. (1) Asector level sweep phase is performed whereby directional transmissionwith low gain (quasi-Omni) reception is performed for link acquisition.(2) A refinement stage is performed that adds receive gain and finaladjustment for combined transmit and receive. (3) Tracking is thenperformed during data transmission to adjust for channel changes.

1.4.3. 802.11ad SLS BF Training Phase

This focuses on the sector level sweep (SLS) mandatory phase of the802.11ad standard. During SLS, a pair of STAs exchange a series ofsector sweep (SSW) frames (or beacons in case of transmit sectortraining at the PCP/AP) over different antenna sectors to find the oneproviding highest signal quality. The station that transmits first iscalled the initiator; the station that transmits second is referred toas the responder.

During a transmit sector sweep (TXSS), SSW frames are transmitted ondifferent sectors while the pairing node (the responder) receivesutilizing a quasi-Omni directional pattern. The responder determines theantenna array sector from the initiator which provided the best linkquality (e.g., SNR).

FIG. 5 depicts the concept of sector sweep (SSW) in 802.11ad. In thisfigure, an example is given in which STA 1 is an initiator of the SLSand STA 2 is the responder. STA 1 sweeps through all of the transmitantenna pattern fine sectors while STA 2 receives in a quasi-Omnipattern. STA 2 feeds back to STA 2 the best sector it received from STA1.

FIG. 6 illustrates the signaling of the sector-level sweep (SLS)protocol as implemented in 802.11ad specifications. Each frame in thetransmit sector sweep includes information on sector countdownindication (CDOWN), a Sector ID, and an Antenna ID. The best Sector IDand Antenna ID information are fed back with the Sector Sweep Feedbackand Sector Sweep ACK frames.

FIG. 7 depicts the fields for the sector sweep frame (an SSW frame) asutilized in the 802.11ad standard, with the fields outlined below. TheDuration field is set to the time until the end of the SSW frametransmission. The RA field contains the MAC address of the STA that isthe intended receiver of the sector sweep. The TA field contains the MACaddress of the transmitter STA of the sector sweep frame.

FIG. 8 illustrates data elements within the SSW field. The principleinformation conveyed in the SSW field is as follows. The Direction fieldis set to 0 to indicate that the frame is transmitted by the beamforminginitiator and set to 1 to indicate that the frame is transmitted by thebeamforming responder. The CDOWN field is a down-counter indicating thenumber of remaining DMG Beacon frame transmissions to the end of theTXSS. The sector ID field is set to indicate sector number through whichthe frame containing this SSW field is transmitted. The DMG Antenna IDfield indicates which DMG antenna the transmitter is currently using forthis transmission. The RXSS Length field is valid only when transmittedin a CBAP and is reserved otherwise. This RXSS Length field specifiesthe length of a receive sector sweep as required by the transmittingSTA, and is defined in units of a SSW frame. The SSW Feedback field isdefined below.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B depict SSW feedback fields. The format shown in FIG.9A is utilized when transmitted as part of an Internal Sublayer Service(ISS), while the format of FIG. 9B is used when not transmitted as partof an ISS. The Total Sectors in the ISS field indicate the total numberof sectors that the initiator uses in the ISS. The Number of RX DMGAntennas subfield indicates the number of receive DMG antennas theinitiator uses during a subsequent Receive Sector Sweep (RSS). TheSector Select field contains the value of the Sector ID subfield of theSSW field within the frame that was received with best quality in theimmediately preceding sector sweep. The DMG Antenna Select fieldindicates the value of the DMG Antenna ID subfield of the SSW fieldwithin the frame that was received with best quality in the immediatelypreceding sector sweep. The SNR Report field is set to the value of theSNR from the frame that was received with best quality during theimmediately preceding sector sweep, and which is indicated in the sectorselect field. The poll required field is set to 1 by a non-PCP/non-APSTA to indicate that it requires the PCP/AP to initiate communicationwith the non-PCP/non-AP. The Poll Required field is set to 0 to indicatethat the non-PCP/non-AP has no preference about whether the PCP/APinitiates the communication.

2. Introduction to Adaptive Network Discovery Signaling 2.1. ProblemStatement

Millimeter-wave (mmW) communications system heavily rely on directionalcommunications to gain sufficient link budget between transmitter andreceiver. As seen in the problems encountered by prior art communicationsystems, determination of a proper beam for use requires significantsignaling overhead. AP transmits multiple beacon frames with transmitbeam forming.

The beacon frames are used for network discovery purposes, i.e., passivescanning. For this reason, beacon frames are transmitted periodically,so that a new STA can recognize the existence of the network byperforming passive scanning in a certain time period.

The current technology trend is toward the use of finer beam forming,which allows higher antenna gain to secure better link budgets. However,when the STA employs finer beams, STAs need to transmit even more beaconframes to cover enough angle of transmission.

There is a trade-off between beaconing overhead versus network discoverydelay. If beacons are transmitted frequently, then beaconing overheadincreases although a new STA can find an existing network rapidly. Ifbeacons are transmitted less frequently, then beaconing overhead can bedecreased, yet it becomes more difficult and slow for a new STA to findan existing network.

The dilemma becomes more problematic when considering forming a meshnetwork utilizing mmW PHY technology. A STA connecting to a mesh networkwill need to discover all neighboring STAs to decide on the best way toreach a gateway/portal mesh STAs and the capabilities of each of theseneighboring STAs. Accordingly, all the STAs joining a mesh networkshould have a capability of beaconing which leads to significantsignaling overhead.

2.2. Contribution of Present Disclosure

By utilizing the disclosed technology, STAs employing mmW PHY can form amesh topology network without suffering significant signaling overhead,or creating network discovery delays.

The proposed technology adopts beaconing behavior based on theinformation collected through the STAs. The STAs change importantaspects of the physical transmission, based on the events that the STAsexperienced or information fed from the user. In particular, the exampleembodiments describes changing transmission aspects including frequency,beam width, and/or directionality of the beacon signals.

The proposed technology defines a set of rules which allow both passivescanning and active scanning with reduced beaconing overhead. Based onthese rules, new STAs can discover an existing network with limitednetwork delay.

3. Embodiments of Present Disclosure 3.1. Station Hardware Configuration

FIG. 10 illustrates an example embodiment 10 of the hardwareconfiguration for a node (wireless station in the network). In thisexample a computer processor (CPU) 16 and memory (RAM) 18 are coupled toa bus 14, which is coupled to an I/O path 12 giving the node externalI/O, such as to sensors, actuators and so forth. Instructions frommemory are executed on processor 16 to execute a program whichimplements the communication protocols of the station (node). Thestation host machine is shown configured with a mmW modem 20 coupled toradio-frequency (RF) circuitry 22 a, 22 b, 22 c to a plurality ofantennas 24 a, 24 b, 24 c through 24 n, 26 a, 26 b, 26 c through 26 n,and 28 a, 28 b, 28 c through 28 n to transmit and receive frames withneighboring nodes.

By way of example and not limitation, the hardware circuitry is shownonly providing the mmW directional communication circuits. However, itshould be appreciated that some stations will also provide multi-bandcommunications, such as incorporating an omni-directional communicationssystem. By way of example and not limitation, stations may incorporate asub-6 GHz communication circuit comprising a modem coupled toradio-frequency (RF) circuitry to one or more antenna(s).

FIG. 11 illustrates an example embodiment 30 of mmWave antennadirections which can be utilized by a node to generate a plurality(e.g., 36) of mmWave antenna sector patterns. In this example, the nodeimplements three RF circuits 32 a, 32 b, 32 c and connected antennas,and each RF circuit and connected antenna generate a beamforming pattern34 a, 34 b, 34 c. Antenna pattern 34 a is shown having twelvebeamforming patterns 36 a, 36 b, 36 c, 36 d, 36 e, 36 f, 36 g, 36 h, 36i, 36 j, 36 k and 36 n (“n” representing that any number of patterns canbe supported). The example station using this specific configuration hasthirty six (36) antenna sectors. However, for the sake of clarity andease of explanation, the following sections generally describe nodeshaving a smaller number of antenna sectors. It should be appreciatedthat a station may be configured with any arbitrary number of antennasectors, with any desired beam pattern mapped to an antenna sector.Typically, the beam pattern is formed to generate a sharp beam, but itis possible that the beam pattern is generated to transmit or receivesignals from multiple angles.

Antenna sector is determined by selection through mmWave RF circuitywith beamforming commanded by the mmWave array antenna controller.Although it is possible that STA hardware components have differentfunctional partitions from the one described above, such configurationscan be deemed to be a variant of the explained configuration. Some ofthe mmWave RF circuitry and antennas may be disabled when the nodedetermines it is unnecessary to communicate with neighbor nodes.

In at least one embodiment, the RF circuitry includes frequencyconverter, array antenna controller, and so forth, and is connected tomultiple antennas which are controlled to perform beamforming fortransmission and reception. In this way the node can transmit signalsusing multiple sets of beam patterns, each beam pattern direction beingconsidered as an antenna sector.

Although in this example three RF circuitries are depicted as coupled tothe mmW modem, it will be appreciated that an arbitrary number of RFcircuitries can be coupled to the mmW modem. In general, larger numbersof RF circuitry will result in broader coverage of the antenna beamdirection. The number of RF circuitries and number of antennas utilizedis determined by hardware constraints of a specific device, and theapplication to which it is directed. Some of the RF circuitry andantennas may be disabled when the node determines it is unnecessary tocommunicate with neighbor nodes.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate an example embodiment 50, 60, of a STAof the present disclosure adapting its transmission and reception beampatterns to suit the prevailing conditions. In this example ofadaptation, the STA is shown to form either sharper beams as in FIG.12A, or wider beams as in FIG. 12B, by changing setting to the RFcircuitry. If the STA uses sharp beams, the beam width is limited yetprovides increased antenna gain. FIG. 12A illustrates an STA 52 usingsharp beams 50, each of which 54, has a narrow angular spread, whileproviding increased range in that narrow spread. By way of example 50,this sharp beam selection is depicted to provide 36 sectors in coveringa full 360 degrees. This is contrasted to example 60 in FIG. 12B showinga STA 56 adapting its communication by selecting the use of wider beams,each beam 58 covers a larger field of view while it provides lessantenna gain than the pattern shown in FIG. 12A, wherein the length ofeach of these beam segments is shown being less that the narrower beamsegments seen in FIG. 12A, depicting by way of example the use of 16beam sectors to cover 360 degrees.

3.2. Network Topology for Consideration

FIG. 13 illustrates an example embodiment 70 of an example topology forconsideration, shown as being within a building structure 72 (e.g.,meeting room), within which multiple stations may operate, exemplifiedhere as STA-1 74, STA-2 76, STA-3 78, STA-4 80, STA-5 82, STA-6 84. Anetwork scenario is adopted using the above example topology to betterexplain the goals and operation of the proposed technology. In theexample each of the six STAs can communicate with neighbor STAs over 60GHz PHY, with all STAs using directional antennas with beamformingcapability. Mobile STAs may be coming into or leaving the room. STA-2 76is connected to a gateway (GW), where traffic is carried to externalnetworks. All STAs form a network and wait to welcome any new STAs. Whena new STA shows up, it shall become a member of the network and connectsto the gateway as soon as possible.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a conventional beacon frame sendingpatterns 90 of STAs (STA-1 74, STA-2 76, STA-3 78, STA-4 80, STA-5 82,and STA-6 84) within the walled topology of FIG. 13. If STA-1 throughSTA-6 are sending beacon frames as the AP does, then STA-1 through STA-6perform sector sweeping of beacon frames using a fine beam. A newlyjoining STA can find the network by scanning beacon frames.

However, as can be seen from the dramatic beam overlapping and signallevels directed at the walls in the figure, this process results in fartoo many beacon frame transmissions, which will obviously incur not onlysignificant overhead, but also create interference that reduces overallnetwork performance.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example embodiment 110 of selected sectorsweeping according to the present disclosure for the STAs (STA-1 74,STA-2 76, STA-3 78, STA-4 80, STA-5 82, and STA-6 84). To remove thisoverhead and unnecessary signal transmission, the present disclosure isdirected to the object of adapting transmissions to provide adequatecoverage while reducing overhead and interference. For example thetransmission of beacon frames is adapted toward obtaining reasonablecoverage and beacon frequency, depending on location of the STA andtopology of the network. One goal of the proposed technology is toenable efficient beaconing with adaptation, as seen in the beaconpatterns of this figure.

In particular, STA-1 74 is seen transmitting 112 wide beams spanningjust over a 90 degree spread based on its position in the walledstructure and the location of the other STAs. STA-2 76 is seen as thegateway (GW). STA-3 78 is seen transmitting 114 wide beams spanning afull 360 degrees to provide a slight overlap with the patterns of theother stations. STA-4 80 is seen transmitting a sweep 116 of wide beamsspanning, and a sweep of narrow beams 118. STA-5 82 is seen transmitting120 wide beams, while STA-6 84 similarly transmits 122 wide beams. Theseadaptations will be discussed in greater detail in later sections.

3.3. Overall Flow of Beacon Adaptation

Beacon adaptation is triggered by events detected by the STAs in thenetwork. STAs are periodically (regularly) monitoring the status of theevents and record the events inside the database they maintain withinthe STA. Examples of the event that a STA records which potentiallytriggers actions are follows: (a) detection of a new STA which shows upin the vicinity of the network; (b) establishment and release of themutual link for communication; (c) newly started traffic or the end ofactive traffic over a link; (d) detection of management signalstransmitted from neighboring STA; (e) timer expiration; and (f) commandfrom a user.

Upon an event occurring during network operations, each STA records theevent in its database and shares the event data to one or more externalentities. Then, depending on the decision making logic utilized in thespecific application, each STA is configured for changing itstransmission form for these management signals, such as beacon signals.

Upon changing the form of a signal transmission, the STAs exchange anotification signal about the change signal form. By repeating thesetransactions, the form of the beacon signals in the local network willadapt so that unnecessary signals are mitigated.

After event detection by STAs, the system starts a signal adaptationprocedure. By way of example and not limitation, the following describestwo general types of procedures: Case 1 with a distributed managementprocedure, and Case 2 with a centralized management procedure.

3.3.1. Distributed Management (Case 1)

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B illustrates an example embodiment 130 of overallinformation exchange among STAs according to a distributed managementcase according to the present disclosure. In the figure are seenmultiple stations 132 in the network, which in this case are depicted asSTA-B 134, STA-A 136, STA-6 138, STA-5 140, STA-3 142 and STA-1 144. Inthis section, overall signal flow among STAs are explained. In thisexample detection of a new STA is the trigger event. It is possible thatother types of events can trigger the overall process as explainedbelow.

With a distributed management procedure, STAs will make autonomousdecisions exchanging events that each STA detected and actions that eachSTAs made. STA-1, STA-3, STA-5, and STA-6 are STAs which were depictedin FIG. 13, and they are transmitting discovery signals, for examplebeacon frames. STA-A is a new STA that is not a part of the network yet.STA-A 136 shows up at the entrance of the room, and attempts to detectany available network. STA-A 136 is seen in FIG. 16A receiving 146beacon frames transmitted from STA-6 138. STA-A 136 responds to thesebeacon frames with SSW frames 148 attempting to communicate with STA-6138. STA-6 detects the SSW frame from STA-A, recognizes the signal iscoming from a new STA, and it generates a new event 150. STA-A is alsoseen transmitting an Association request 152 to STA-6 trying toestablish an active link. Upon reception of the Association request,STA-6 generates a new event 154.

So far STA-6 138 has generated two events. STA-6 performs a decisionprocess to decide on what action to take (explained later). STA-6 alsofurther shares the Event Data to its neighboring STAs, STA-5 and STA-3by event data transmission 158 to STA-5 140, and event data transmission162 to STA-3 142. By receiving these Event Data frames, STA-5 and STA-3know what transpired with STA-6, and these STAs similarly perform theirrespective decision processes 160, 164, to decide on what action to take(explained later). STA-3 142, also further forwards 166 the Event Datato its neighbor STA-1 144, which is not a direct neighbor of STA-6. Bydoing so, the Event Data initiated from STA-6 is propagated throughoutthe network. Based on receiving this event data, STA-1 also performs adecision process 168 to determine an action.

Continuing the example in FIG. 16B, it is seen that after a while,another new STA, STA-B 134 shows up at the entrance of the room, andattempts to detect an available network. STA-B receives a beacon frame170 transmitted from STA-6 138. STA-B responds with SSW frames 172 tocommunicate with STA-6. Upon reception of the SSW frames from STA-B,STA-6 generates a new event 174 and decides 176 on an action. In thisexample, the action STA-6 decides upon is to change 178 its own beaconsignal transmission form. After this decision, STA-6 transmits EventData and Notification of the signal form change to its neighbor STAs,depicting transmission 180, 184, 188, to STA-A, STA-5, and STA-3,respectively. STA-A, STA-5, and STA-3 each receive the Event Data framesand Notification frames, and perform decision processes 182, 186, and190, respectively, for the action. Depending on the notifiedinformation, they may change their own beacon signal transmission formas well. In this example STA-3 142 changes 192 its signal form. STA-3also propagates 194 the received Event Data and Notification to itsneighbor STA-1 which is not a neighbor of STA-6. In this way, STA-1 alsoknows the changes of the signal form of STA-6 and STA-3, and decides 196on any action to be taken. As STA-3 changes its signal form, it alsogenerates 198 a notification to its neighbor STA-6, which decides 200 onan action and propagates 202, 206 the Notification to its neighbor STAs,which themselves decide 204, 208 on actions.

3.3.2. Centralized Management (Case 2)

FIG. 17 illustrates an example embodiment 210 of overall informationexchange among STAs (STA-A 212, STA-6 214, Central Server via STA-2 216,STA-1 218, STA-3 220, and STA-4 222), according to a centralizedmanagement case according to the present disclosure.

Similar to the description in the prior section, the network detectionof a new STA is considered the trigger event for this example. It shouldbe appreciated, however, that the present disclosure also teaches thatother types of events can be utilized to trigger the overall process aslater described.

With a centralized management procedure, STAs report Event Data to aCentral Server in the network. In this particular scenario, it isassumed for the sake of example that the Central Server is accessiblefrom STA2 which has a gateway to an external network. Upon reception ofthe Event Data, the Central Server maintains its database to trackevents which have occurred on the network, and makes decisions on theadaptive signal form of each of the STAs. Overall information exchangeamong STAs are shown in FIG. 17. STA-1, STA-3, STA-5, and STA-6 are thesame STAs depicted in FIG. 16 and they are transmitting discoverysignals, such as beacons. STA-A 212 is a new STA that is not a part ofthe network yet.

STA-A 212 arrives at the entrance of the room, and attempts to detectany available network. STA-A receives 224 a beacon frame transmittedfrom STA-6 214. STA-A responds 226 with SSW frames to communicate withSTA-6. STA-6 detects the SSW frame from STA-A, and recognizes the signalis coming from a new STA, and generates a new event 228. Also STA-A isseen transmitting 230 an Association request to STA-6 towardestablishing an active link. Upon reception of the Association request,STA-6 generates a new event 232.

Thus, STA-6 now has two events, and transmits 234 an Event Data frametoward the Central Server. In this case, the Event Data frame istransmitted 234 to STA-2 216 that has access to the Central Server. Uponreception of the Event Data, Central Server performs a decision process236 to decide on an action to take. This time, Central Server decided tochange the signal form utilized by STA-6 and STA-1. Accordingly, theCentral Station through STA-2 transmits Notification frames 238, 242 and246 to the STAs in the network to inform them of the changes. Inparticular, it is seen that STA-2 transmits Notification frames to itsneighbors STA-6, STA-1 and STA-3. Upon reception of the Notificationframe, STA-6 214 and STA-1 218 change their signal form 240, 244, inthis case changing their beacon signal transmission form as instructedin the Notification frame. Then STA-3 220 propagates 248 theNotification frame to STA-4 222, which could not be directedcommunicated with from central server 216. Thus, it is seen above thatthe network has adapted its transmission forms according to an event (inthis example entry of a new STA) occurring on the network.

3.4. STA Monitoring Process

FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B illustrate an example embodiment 250 of stationmonitoring for performing network management. This section explainsdetails about event monitoring and subsequent actions that a STA maytake. The monitoring process performs not only monitoring of the eventbut also performs a sequence of logic steps for decision making andsignal adaptation, when the STA and the network is performing amanagement procedure.

A STA always (periodically) monitors 252 for new events. At block 254 acheck is made for a new event. If a new event has not occurred, then theprocess will perform later checks 254 for a new event. When a new eventis detected, the STA extracts 256 event data and also manages a databaseof events and signal form status inside the STA. After extracting theevent data, the STA retrieves 258 an entry of the database 265corresponding to the event. If the STA is operating autonomously, suchas according to a distributed management procedure, then the STAperforms a decision process (e.g., runs logic) and performs theassociated action autonomously. So accordingly, a check is performed atblock 260 to determine if the STA is to decide on the actionautonomously. If the STA is to act autonomously, then the STA decides onan action 262. In either case, the STA updates 264 the database 265 withthe extracted event data and store the updated data to the database. Itwill be noted that the database 265 of events and status is availablefor later retrieval, such as seen from block 258.

Entering now into FIG. 18B, the STA determines 266 if the event data isto be shared with an external entity. A STA may not always share theevent every time, but it may share the event when a sufficient amount,or importance, of data has been accumulated. If the STA determines thatthe event data should be shared with an external entity, it transmits268 the event data toward the external entity. The Event Datatransmission sequence has been previously explained in regards to FIG.16A, FIG. 16B and FIG. 17.

A determination is made 270 on whether the STA should update itstransmission form. When the STA is not operating autonomously, executionreturns to block 254 in FIG. 18A. Otherwise, the STA is operatingautonomously, such as according to a distributed management procedure,and it updates 272 its signal transmission form depending on the outcomefrom the decision making (block 262 in FIG. 18A). If the STA is toupdate its signal transmission form, it adjusts transmission form of thediscovery signal, such as beacon frames. Details of the updates to thesignal transmission form will be explained later. If the STA updates itssignal transmission form, it will also communicate a notification 274 ofsignal transmission form to an external entity.

FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B illustrate an example embodiment 290 of eventextraction, which captures the event to be recorded and shared. By wayof example, the figure depicts six types of events, however, it shouldbe appreciated that alternative or additional event types can beprocessed without departing from the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

The logic is shown using a simple follow through decision-tree pattern,however, it should be appreciated that other forms of decision logic canbe utilized to meet the same objectives, such as table driven, taskingmodels, and the like which are configured for assessing multiple eventsand performing processes accordingly. For example in a table drivenprocess, events can be mapped into a binary word to which is added astart address of a table. A jump to the table then routes executionaccording to the unique state of all the mapped events. The above isjust to indicate that this and the other flow diagrams depicted in thepresent disclosure, illustrate but one form of logic which can result inperforming the desired actions in response to network events and states.

The routine commences 292, and a check made 294 for a new STA.

In the following flow descriptions, if a specific event is not detected,then execution moves to checking for the next form of event. If a newSTA is detected, the STA extracts 296 the antenna sector at which thenew STA resides, and puts the information into the corresponding eventdata. Then the STA also extracts and records 298 into the event data thetime when the new STA shows up (is detected).

A check is made 300 to determine if the event is an association statuschange, indicating reception of the association request frame from a newSTA, the completion of the association process, or cancellation of theactive link. If the event is an association status change, then the STAextracts 302 the number of active links with neighbor STA(s), and storesthe information into the corresponding event data.

A check is made 304 for a traffic activity change. If the event istraffic activity change, then the STA extracts 306 the traffic bandwidthand airtime usage of the active traffic that the STA is transmitting orreceiving, and stores the information into the corresponding event data.

Reaching FIG. 19B, a check is made 308 for detecting management signals.If the event is a detection of management signals transmitted fromneighboring STA, then the STA extracts 310 the signal transmitter (STA)identifier and averaged received signal strength, and stores theinformation into the corresponding event data.

A check is made 312 for detection of expiration (firing) of ahousekeeping timer. If this event timer has expired, then the STAextracts 314 elapsed time based on the previous timer expired time, andstores the information to the corresponding event data. It should benoted that the STA runs (operates) the timer all the time, andexpiration of the timer indicates the need to perform housekeepingfunctions.

A check is made 316 for detecting a command from a user, such as asystem reset or memory refresh command. In this case the STA extracts318 data to be removed, and stores the information to the event data, atwhich time the process ends 320.

According to the above example, the detected events are encoded intoEvent Data, which can be transmitted to one or more external entities.

3.5. Event Data Sharing

As was previously shown, the STA transmits Event Data to its neighborSTAs or Central Server, after extracting event data as described above.The Event Data is packed into a frame (packet), and transmitted over thewireless link.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example embodiment 330 of an event data frame. AFrame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration fieldcontains navigation (NAV) information used for CSMA/CA channel access.The RA field contains address of the recipient of the frame. The TAfield contains the address of the STA that transmits the frame. ASequence Control field contains a sequence number to operate anautomatic retransmission request (ARQ). An Action field indicates theaction identifier which specifies what kind of action the recipient ofthe frame is directed to take. A Dest STA field indicates to whom theinformation in this frame is transmitted. In case of a distributedmanagement procedure, in at least one embodiment this field can be setto broadcast an address so that the information can be shared among allSTAs in the network. In case of a centralized management procedure, thisfield contains the address of the STA that is connected to the CentralServer. Event Data element(s) contain the event data itself. MultipleEvent Data elements can be contained in the frame, if the transmittingSTA reports on multiple events at once. The frame ends with a framecheck sequence (FCS) which allows a receiver to determine errors in theframe.

Within the Event Data element, are a number of fields 332, shownincluding an element ID field and length fields. The STA ID fieldpresents the address of the STA that reports on the event. A Type ofEvent field provides an identifier of the event and indicates what kindof event the information element is reporting, for example detection ofa new STA, association status change, traffic activity change, and soforth. The Time Stamp field contains the time at which the eventoccurred. The Event Data field contains the event data encoded, such asbeing as a result of the Extract event data routine depicted in FIG. 19Aand FIG. 19B. The STA may also append a Data Base status fieldcontaining information stored in the Event Data database. The Receiverof the Event Data frame parses these elements, and can thus determineevents that occurred at the STA that is reporting on this event.

3.6. Upon Event Data Reception

As was seen in previous figures (FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B and FIG. 17) theEvent Data frames are received by neighboring STAs or a Central Server.The following section explains actions per Event Data reception.

3.6.1. Distributed Management (Case 1)

As was seen in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B, when a distributed managementprocedure is utilized, the Event Data frames are received by theneighboring STAs. Also, as seen in the figure, neighboring STAs willreceive Notification frames when the signal transmission form has beenchanged.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example embodiment 350 of utilizing a distributedmanagement procedure when Event Data frames are received by neighboringSTAs. Upon reception of Event Data or Notification, the STA executes thesignal processing flow seen in figure. Also, as seen in the figure,neighboring STAs receive Notification frames when signal transmissionforms have been changed.

The process starts 352, and a check 354 is made for receipt of an eventdata or notification frame. When a STA receives an Event Data frame or aNotification frame, the STA starts the frame parsing and subsequentsignal processing. If the STA is operating distributed managementprocedure, as seen in blocks 358, 360 and 362, it will parse thereceived frame and share the received information and decided actionwith neighboring STAs as necessary. If the STA is operating centralizedmanagement procedure, it skips that set of operations. Specifically, acheck is made 356 for a distributed management procedure. If it is not adistributed management procedure, then execution moves (jumps) down toblock 364. Otherwise, to process a distributed management process, thedata (event data or notification data) is parsed 358, and a check 360made on whether to share the data with other STAs. If it is not to sharethe data, then execution moves to block 364. Otherwise, if it to sharethe data, then block 362 is reached which sends the data baseinformation regarding the event to at least one external entity.

Reaching block 364, the STA determines if it shall update the discoverysignal transmission form. When the STA is operating according to adistributed management procedure, this determination is made in theParse data subroutine (as discussed in a later section). If the STA isoperating according to a centralized management procedure, thisdetermination is made by parsing a received Notification frame from theCentral Server. If the Notification frame contains suggested actions tothe STA, it will update its discovery signal transmission form asinstructed by the Notification frame.

If the STA determines that it shall update its transmission form, itupdates 366 its own discovery signal transmission form. The manner inwhich the signal form is updated is described in a later section. Thenblock 368 is reached in which the STA determines if it shall propagateeither or both Event Data and/or Notification to other STAs.

If the STA is operating according to a distributed management procedure,it will try to propagate the Event Data/Notification to its neighborSTAs, so that all the STAs in the network can share the sameinformation. Determination of which neighboring STAs to transmit theinformation to is determined by the routing table that the STAmaintains. The particulars of this determination on sharing extent orthe use of the routing table, are not within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Thus, reaching block 370 event data and/or notification dataare sent to other STAs, and execution moves back to block 354.

If the STA is operating according to a centralized management procedure,then the STA attempts to propagate the received Event Data orNotification based on the routing table that the STA maintains. Whichneighboring STAs to transmit the information is determined by therouting table that the STA maintains.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment 390 of Signal processing flowinside a Parse data routine in which the STA determines actions andmanages a database of received Event Data and Notifications. Processingstarts 392, and the STA retrieves 394 an entry of the database 400corresponding to the received information. Then, the STA executes aprocess to determine/decide 396 on an action to be performed based onthe received information and information stored in the database. The STAupdates the database 398 with the received information and stores theupdated data to the database, ending 402 the parsing process.

3.6.2. Centralized Management (Case 2)

As was shown in FIG. 17, when a centralized management procedure isfollowed, the Event Data frames are received by the Central Server.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example embodiment 410 of signal processing flowfor Event Data reception at the Central Server. The process starts 412and a determination 414 is made if event data has been received. If notreceived, then a later check 414 will be made for event data. If eventdata has been received, then entries are retrieved 416 from a database422 of event data collected by the STAs, to determine actions. It willbe noted that in this case, the Central Server manages the database ofreceived Event Data. Then, a decision process is executed 418, aspreviously exemplified, to decide on the action based on the receivedinformation and information stored in the database. The STA then updates420 the database 422 with the received information and stores theupdated data to the database.

A determination is made 424, if any performed actions result in changesto which one or more STAs should be notified. If no notifications areneeded, then execution returns to block 414 in checking for event data.If, however, the outcome from the action decision process results inupdating signal transmission forms, as determined at block 424, then theSTA sends Notification 426 to the STAs in the network, so that thedecided actions are taken at the corresponding STA(s), before returningto block 414 to check for event data.

3.7. Decision Making

FIG. 24A through FIG. 24C illustrates an example embodiment 430 ofdecision making regarding changing the form of transmission beingperformed. The STA in a distributed management procedure and the CentralServer incorporate decision making programming (e.g., software module),referred herein as a decision module. The decision module executes steps(e.g., runs logic) as described here for determining if the signaltransmission form is to be updated. The decision is made in reference todatabase information which has been updated by the received Event Data.It should be noted that the database contains the history of the eventsdetected in the past. As such, the decision module can obtain statisticsof the events. The following describes the particulars of this process.

The process of deciding on an action to take commences 432 in FIG. 24A,when the event reported on a new STA is detected. The decision moduledetermines 434 if new STAs are detected at a particular STA from aparticular direction frequently. If new STAs are not detected thenexecution proceeds to block 442. Otherwise, if the determination istrue, then the decision module intends to update the transmission form436 to increase frequency of the discovery signal toward the directionfrom the STA, and decrease frequency of the discovery signal towardother directions, and decrease frequency of the discovery signaltransmitted by other STAs.

Then the decision module determines 438 if the averaged signal level ofthe new STA, received at the particular STA from the particulardirection, is higher than a threshold. If the determination is false,execution jumps down to block 442. Otherwise, since the threshold hasbeen exceeded, block 440 is reached to adapt the transmission form, andfor this specific example the beam width of the discovery signal of theparticular STA is increased that is transmitted at the particulardirection.

Block 442 is reached which determines if an active link between stationshas been changed. For example, when an event is reported on a newlyestablished active link in which the decision module updates the networktopology information. If the active link has been changed, then anupdate 444 is performed on the STA's neighbor list, and it also recordsthat these STAs are close in proximity. This information is used todetermine a route from one STA to another STA.

A check is made 446 in FIG. 24B on traffic activity changes. If nochanges are found, then execution reaches block 450. However, if trafficactivity has changed, then block 448 is executed which updates thesignal form to decrease frequency of the discovery signal transmitted iftraffic activity increases, or to increase frequency of the discoverysignal transmitted, if the traffic activity decreases. The decisionmodule thus picks up a STA whose traffic activity is less than anotherand decreases frequency of the discovery signal of the picked up STA.

A determination is made at block 450 to check for a detectedinterference signal. If no interference signal, then execution moves toblock 454. Otherwise, when an event is reported on detection of aninterference signal, i.e., reception of management frames from aneighbor STA, then the decision module updates 452 neighbor STA list,records that these STAs are close, and changes the transmission form todecrease frequency of the discovery signal transmitted by one of the STAthat established the active link. Thus, the decision module picks up aSTA whose traffic activity is less than another and decreases thefrequency of the discovery signal of the picked up STA.

A timer expiration determination 454 is reached. If it has not expired,then execution moves to block 458 in FIG. 24C. Otherwise, when the eventreports on timer expiration event of a STA, then the decision moduleupdates 456 in FIG. 24C the timescale of the history of the event. Itrecalculates the frequency of the events maintained in the database. Thedecision module may intend to change transmission form of the STA(s),upon change of the frequency of the event.

A determination is made at block 458 if a reset data command wasreceived from a user. If not true, then execution moves to the nextdecision at block 462. Otherwise, if the data is to be reset, then thedecision module removes 460 event history of the corresponding STA fromits database and sets the transmission form to a default form.

After the series of determinations above, the decision module determinesat block 462 if the discovery signal transmission form is to be updated.If no updates, or the updates are not sufficiently significant, thenexecution ends 466. It should be appreciated that the signal form maynot be updated even if the decision module intends to update it when theeffect of the signal form change is minor (e.g., below a thresholdlevel). If the intended changes are sufficiently, however, the decisionmodule prepares 464 commanding an update of the transmission form. Ifthe network is operating a distributed management procedure, it willissue a command to change the transmission form of the STA. If thenetwork is operating centralized management procedure, it will issueNotification to STAs in the network.

3.8. Notification Data Structure

When an STA operating a distributed management procedure changes itsdiscovery signal transmission form, it will issue a Notification frameto neighboring STAs to tell them that the signal form has been changed.Similarly, in a centralized management procedure, the Central Serverissues Notification frames to STAs in the network to let them order orinform the update of the signal transmission form. Delivery of theNotification frames was already discussed in relation to FIG. 16A, FIG.16B and FIG. 17.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example embodiment 470 of a Notification frame.The notification frame contains the following fields. A Frame Controlfield indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAVinformation used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains anaddress of the recipient of the frame. A TA field contains an address ofthe STA that transmitted the frame. A Sequence Control field contains asequence number to operate an automatic retransmission request (ARQ). AnAction field indicates the action identifier which indicates what kindof action the recipient of the frame is directed to take. A Dest STAfield indicates to whom the information in this frame is beingtransmitted. In many cases, this field is set to a broadcast address sothat the information can be shared among all STAs in the network. Incase of centralized management procedure, this field may contain theaddress of the STA that is directed to change signal transmission formin response to this notification. A Signal Form element containsinformation on how the discovery signal form should be transmitted. Itis possible that multiple Signal Form elements are contained in theframe if the Notification reports on multiple STA's signal form changes.The frame ends with a frame check sequence (FCS) which allows a receiverto determine errors in the frame.

Within the Signal Form element are the following fields 480. An elementID field and length field. A STA ID field presents the address of theSTA that the signal form update is (or will be) applied to. A Time Stampfield specifies the effective time of the update to the discoverysignal. A Signal Interval field indicates the interval of a series ofdiscovery signal transmissions. A Number of Beam Specification fieldindicates the number of Beam Specification elements contained in theSignal Form element. It is possible that multiple Beam Specificationfields are contained in a single Signal Form element, if the beampattern is updated with an irregular pattern.

Each Beam Specification element contains sub-fields 490 for directingbeam changes in the form of the discovery signal transmission after theupdate is applied. At least one embodiment of these fields areexemplified as a signal cycle, cycle offset, beam direction, anglecoverage, beam width and beam angle step. Signal Cycle sub-fieldindicates the repeat cycle of the discovery signal transmission. If thefield is set to 1, the same discovery signal form is used every time theSTA schedules a series of discovery signal transmission. If the field isset to 3, the discovery signal transmission pattern is repeated every 3beacon periods. The Cycle Offset sub-field contains the starting timingof the beam pattern ordered by the Beam Spec element within the SignalCycle. Beam Direction sub-field indicates the angle direction of thecenter of the series of the discovery signals that are suggested by theBeam Spec field. Angle Coverage sub-field contains the total angle oftransmit discovery signals that the STA should cover. Depending on thevalue, STA may cover 180 degree of the coverage or 60 degree of thecoverage, etc. Beam Width sub-field indicates beam width used for thediscovery signal that are suggested by the Beam Spec field. Beam AngleStep sub-field indicates the angle step between the beams suggested bythe Beam Spec field.

Receiver of the Notification frame parses these elements, and can obtainwhich STA shall transmit discovery signals in what form. In case ofcentralized management procedures, a STA that received a Notificationframe of which STA ID field in the Signal Form element equals to its ownaddress shall propagate the rest of the element, while setting its owndiscovery signal transmission form as indicated in the element. It ispossible that a single Notification frame contains multiple Signal Formelements, where multiple element contains the same STA ID. In such acase, the STA indicated in the STA ID field shall parse correspondingSignal Form elements and update its signal form so that the transmittingsignal meets requirements from all corresponding elements. In this case,the STA's discovery signal form could be varying per transmit timing orthe direction of the antenna (See signal form of STA-4 in FIG. 30).

3.9. Signal Adaptation

As a consequence of the signal form update, STAs will change theirdiscovery signal transmission form. This is an effect of step 360 inevent or notification reception seen in FIG. 21. In this section, it isdescribed how the signal form is changed, referring to the figuresbelow.

3.9.1. Changing the Frequency of the Discovery Signal

FIG. 26 illustrates an example embodiment 510, 530 showing atransmission form change (case 1). Originally, the STA is transmittingbeacon frames 514 as its discovery signal, depicting beacon intervals512 a, 512 b, and 512 c over time span 516. These beacon signals coverover 180 degrees with 15 narrow beams, as seen in the patterns 518 a,518 b and 518 c. By way of example and not limitation, in the examplethe beacons are transmitted every 100 msec regularly.

As a consequence of the transmission signal form update, STAs willchange their discovery signal transmission form as shown 530. In thiscase the STA receives a command to update the frequency of the signal,and particular to this example, the STA is directed to decreasefrequency of the transmission to ⅓, with Signal Cycle of 3. Beaconframes 534 are transmitted as its discovery signal, depicting beaconintervals 532 a, 532 b, and 532 c over time span 536. The adapted beaconsignals each cover ⅓ of the original span, which is seen as the 5 narrowbeams, with direction changing with each beacon interval from pattern538 a, to 538 b and finally to 538 c, before it would return to what isseen in 538 a. Thus, it is seen that the STA transmits only 5 (one thirdof 15) beams in a beacon transmission time, while consuming 3 beacontransmission intervals to cover the desired angle, and repeats the cycleper 3 beacon interval.

FIG. 27 illustrates an example embodiment 550, 570 of a signal formchange (case 2), where the STA receives command to update the frequencyof the signal.

Originally 550, the STA is transmitting beacon frames 554 as itsdiscovery signal, depicting beacon intervals 552 a, 552 b, and 552 cover time span 556. These beacon signal covers over 180 degrees with 15narrow beams, as seen in the patterns 558 a, 558 b and 558 c. The beaconis transmitted every 100 msec regularly.

As a consequence of the signal form update, STAs change their discoverysignal transmission form 570. In this example, the STA is directed(commanded) to decrease frequency of the transmission by ½, with aSignal Interval of 2. Thus, beacon intervals 572 a, 572 b are increased(doubled) to 200 msec (2 times from the default value), whereas the STAmaintains a number of beams in a beacon transmission time. The figuredepicts the transmissions 578 a, 578 b having the same number of beamsas before, but spread out over a longer interval.

3.9.2. Changing Beam Width of Discovery Signal

FIG. 28 illustrates an example embodiment 590, 600 showing a signaltransmission form update. Originally 590, the STA is transmitting beaconframes 594 as its discovery signal with beacon intervals 592 a, 592 bwith beacon signals 598 a, 598 b, covering 180 degree with 15 narrowbeams over time span 596. The beacon is transmitted for example every100 msec regularly.

As a consequence of the signal form update, STAs change their discoverysignal transmission form 600. Beacon frames 604 are seen with beaconintervals 602 a, 602 b. The STA received a command to increase beamwidth by 3 times that of the original beam width. Thus, the STA is seenadapting to transmit only 5 (one third of 15) beams in each beacontransmission time, covering the same angle coverage, while losingantenna gain from a value G_(n) to G_(w). The resultant beam patterns608 a, 608 b are seen over time span 606.

3.9.3. Changing Beam Direction of the Discovery Signal

FIG. 29 illustrates an example embodiment 610, 620 showing a anothertype of signal transmission form update.

Originally, as was also seen in FIG. 26, the STA is transmitting beaconframes 614 as its discovery signal, depicting beacon intervals 612 a,612 b, and 612 c over time span 616. These beacon signals covers over180 degrees with 15 narrow beams, as seen in the patterns 618 a, 618 band 618 c. The beacon is transmitted every 100 msec regularly.

As a consequence of the signal form update, the affected STAs willchange their discovery signal transmission form 620 as shown in thefigure. Beacons 624 are shown with beacon intervals 622 a, 622 b, and622 c over a time span 626. It is assumed in this example, that the STAreceives a Notification frame from Central Server to update its signalform, and that the STA receives a Signal Form element containing 2 BeamSpec fields. The first Beam Spec field suggests to decrease anglecoverage by ⅓. The second Beam Spec field directs the STA to increasesignal transmission interval to 300 msec. According to information inthe first Beam Spec field, the STA transmits limited angle coverage with5 (one third of 15) beams seen as 628 a, 628 b. Per information in thesecond Beam Spec field, the STA transmits beacon frames in the originalform (same coverage) but transmitted 628 a every 300 msec. As acombination of these two directives, the STA transmits discovery signalin irregular form as shown 628 c in the figure.

3.9.4. Changing Discovery Signal Tx Form by Combo of Commands

It should also be appreciated that the present disclosure contemplatesadapting (changing) transmission parameters in any desired form ofchange, but also in any desired combination of these changes.

FIG. 30 illustrates an example embodiment 630, 640, 650 of the signaltransmission form updates that can arise with the deployment scenarioshown in FIG. 15. In this example the STAs update their discovery signaltransmission forms based on the history of the events.

STA-3 630 is shown with beacons 634 having beacon intervals 632 a, 632b, 632 c over time span 636, with beam patterns 638 a, 638 b, 638 cwhich are all the same. Thus, STA-3 does not change its discovery signaltransmission form from the original form, and it maintains full anglecoverage, without changing beacon interval or beam width.

STA-4 executed a signal form change 640 by either receiving aNotification frame from a Central Server (in case of centralizedmanagement procedure) or in response to a decision made by itself (incase of distributed management procedures), and generates an irregularbeam pattern changing over time. As discussed in regards to FIG. 29, itis possible that the Central Server can inform STA-4 to update thesignal transmission form in irregular manner. STA-4 is seen sendingbeacons 644 with beacon intervals 642 a, 642 b and 642 c over time span646, and showing beam patterns 648 a, 648 b and 648 c. It can be seenthat the beam widths transmitted 648 a are at different widths duringthe sweep, then at 648 b set to a constant narrow beam width, and thenat 648 c set to ⅓ the sending frequency.

STA-2 is depicted 650, which kept on increasing Signal Intervals, due tothe event observed in the past. As a result, it stops transmittingdiscovery signals. There are no beacons 654 during the beacon intervals652 a, 652 b, 652 c over time span 656. However, the network learns thatthere are other STAs in the network nearby STA-2. So, these other STAsperform the discovery process, and STA-2 does not need to keep ontransmitting discovery signal unnecessarily.

3.10. Benefits of Signal Adaptation

As a result of the discovery signal adaptation schemes described above,transmission signal forms of the STAs depicted in FIG. 15 were adaptedas follows.

STA-1: limited its angle coverage of the discovery signal, as a new STAdoes not show up from the direction of the walls in its history. Also,it increases beam width of the discovery signal, as the far place fromSTA-1 is covered by other STAs and STA-1 does not detect a new STA fromthese areas often. STA-1 also increases its discovery signaltransmission interval, as a new STA is not detected often enough.

STA-2: increases its discovery signal transmission interval, as a newSTA is not detected often in its history. STA-2 is connected to theGateway and accommodates active traffic at all times. As a result,STA-2's discovery signal is rarely transmitted and sometimes it does nottransmit discovery signals at all.

STA-3: increases beam width as most of the signal strength from thenewly detected STA are high level in its history. It also increases itsdiscovery signal transmission interval, as a new STA is not detectedoften enough. However, it does not change the angle of the coverage, asit detects new STAs from all angles in its history.

STA-4: limits its angle coverage of the discovery signal, as a new STAdoes not show up from the direction of the walls in its history. Itincreases beam width of some portion of the directions as new STA'ssignal strength level detected from the direction was often high enough.It also increases its discovery signal transmission interval, as a newSTA is not detected often enough in its history.

STA-5: limits its angle coverage of the discovery signal, as the new STAdoes not show up from the direction of the walls in its history. Itincreases beam width of some part of the direction as new STA's signalstrength level detected from the direction was often high enough.However, it maintains its discovery signal transmission interval, asSTA-5 is located closer to the entrance of the room and it detects a newSTA often in its history.

STA-6: limits its angle coverage of the discovery signal, as the new STAdoes not show up from the direction of the walls in its history. Itincreases beam width of some part of the direction as new STA's signalstrength level detected from the direction was often high enough.However, it maintains its discovery signal transmission interval, asSTA-5 is located closer to the entrance of the room and it detected anew STA often in its history.

In this way, discovery signal transmission form is adapted so that thenetwork detects new STAs efficiently without causing much overhead ofthe discovery signals.

4. Summary of Disclosure Elements

The following is a partial summary of aspects associated with thepresent disclosure.

Wireless communication system/apparatus with directional transmissionperforming transmission of signals that aid scanning for networkdiscovery, comprising: (a) STAs collect information on a newlydiscovered STA and record the event in a data base; (b) the network STAsexchange the data base information with an entity that operates as acentral coordinator or other STAs in the network; (c) either network STAor central coordinator determines the signal transmission form based onthe information received from network STAs; (d) either network STA orcentral coordinator transmit the determined signal transmission form toSTAs in the network; (e) a network STA receiving the determined signaltransmission form adjusts the signal transmission that aid scanning fornetworks as indicated in the received information.

The wireless communication system/apparatus described above in which thenetwork STA receiving the determined signal transmission form adjustfrequency or timing of the signal that aids a new station in scanningfor the network.

The wireless communication system/apparatus described above in which thenetwork STA receiving the determined signal transmission form adjustsbeam width of the signal that aids a new station in scanning for thenetwork.

The wireless communication system/apparatus described above in which thenetwork STA receiving the determined signal transmission form adjustdirectionality of the transmitted signal to aid a new station scanningfor the network.

The wireless communication system/apparatus as described above, in whichthe network STAs collect information on antenna sector through which thenewly discovered STA is detected.

The wireless communication system/apparatus as described above, wherethe network STAs collect information on active links together with thenewly discovered STA.

The wireless communication system/apparatus as described above, wherethe network STAs collect information on interference signals togetherwith said newly discovered STA.

5. General Scope of Embodiments

The enhancements described in the presented technology can be readilyimplemented within various directional wireless stations. It should alsobe appreciated that wireless station circuits are preferably implementedto include one or more computer processor devices (e.g., CPU,microprocessor, microcontroller, computer enabled ASIC, etc.) andassociated memory storing instructions (e.g., RAM, DRAM, NVRAM, FLASH,computer readable media, etc.) whereby programming (instructions) storedin the memory are executed on the processor to perform the steps of thevarious process methods described herein.

The computer and memory devices were not depicted in each of thediagrams for the sake of simplicity of illustration, as one of ordinaryskill in the art recognizes the use of computer devices for carrying outsteps involved with wireless data communication. The presentedtechnology is non-limiting with regard to memory and computer-readablemedia, insofar as these are non-transitory, and thus not constituting atransitory electronic signal.

Embodiments of the present technology may be described herein withreference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according toembodiments of the technology, and/or procedures, algorithms, steps,operations, formulae, or other computational depictions, which may alsobe implemented as computer program products. In this regard, each blockor step of a flowchart, and combinations of blocks (and/or steps) in aflowchart, as well as any procedure, algorithm, step, operation,formula, or computational depiction can be implemented by various means,such as hardware, firmware, and/or software including one or morecomputer program instructions embodied in computer-readable programcode. As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions maybe executed by one or more computer processors, including withoutlimitation a general purpose computer or special purpose computer, orother programmable processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe computer program instructions which execute on the computerprocessor(s) or other programmable processing apparatus create means forimplementing the function(s) specified.

Accordingly, blocks of the flowcharts, and procedures, algorithms,steps, operations, formulae, or computational depictions describedherein support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunction(s), combinations of steps for performing the specifiedfunction(s), and computer program instructions, such as embodied incomputer-readable program code logic means, for performing the specifiedfunction(s). It will also be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations, as well as any procedures, algorithms, steps, operations,formulae, or computational depictions and combinations thereof describedherein, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computersystems which perform the specified function(s) or step(s), orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer-readable programcode.

Furthermore, these computer program instructions, such as embodied incomputer-readable program code, may also be stored in one or morecomputer-readable memory or memory devices that can direct a computerprocessor or other programmable processing apparatus to function in aparticular manner, such that the instructions stored in thecomputer-readable memory or memory devices produce an article ofmanufacture including instruction means which implement the functionspecified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s). The computer programinstructions may also be executed by a computer processor or otherprogrammable processing apparatus to cause a series of operational stepsto be performed on the computer processor or other programmableprocessing apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such thatthe instructions which execute on the computer processor or otherprogrammable processing apparatus provide steps for implementing thefunctions specified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s), procedure (s)algorithm(s), step(s), operation(s), formula(e), or computationaldepiction(s).

It will further be appreciated that the terms “programming” or “programexecutable” as used herein refer to one or more instructions that can beexecuted by one or more computer processors to perform one or morefunctions as described herein. The instructions can be embodied insoftware, in firmware, or in a combination of software and firmware. Theinstructions can be stored local to the device in non-transitory media,or can be stored remotely such as on a server, or all or a portion ofthe instructions can be stored locally and remotely. Instructions storedremotely can be downloaded (pushed) to the device by user initiation, orautomatically based on one or more factors.

It will further be appreciated that as used herein, that the termsprocessor, hardware processor, computer processor, central processingunit (CPU), and computer are used synonymously to denote a devicecapable of executing the instructions and communicating withinput/output interfaces and/or peripheral devices, and that the termsprocessor, hardware processor, computer processor, CPU, and computer areintended to encompass single or multiple devices, single core andmulticore devices, and variations thereof.

From the description herein, it will be appreciated that the presentdisclosure encompasses multiple embodiments which include, but are notlimited to, the following:

1. An apparatus for wireless communication in a network, comprising: (a)a wireless communication circuit configured for wirelessly communicatingwith other wireless communication stations utilizing directionalmillimeter-wave (mmW) communications having a plurality of antennapattern sectors each having different transmission directions; (b) aprocessor coupled to said wireless communication circuit within astation configured for operating on the network; (c) a non-transitorymemory storing instructions executable by the processor; and (d) whereinsaid instructions, when executed by the processor, perform stepscomprising: (d)(i) collecting information on a newly discovered stationand recording an event within a data base, containing information aboutthe newly discovered station; (d)(ii) exchanging information from saiddata base with other entities on the network comprising either a centralcoordinator entity or other stations in the network; (d)(iii)determining a signal transmission form based on information receivedfrom a network station; (d)(iv) transmitting the determined signaltransmission form to other stations in the network as said wirelesscommunication circuit operates as either a central coordinator or aregular station; and (d)(v) adjusting signal transmissions according toa received determined signal transmission form from other stations or acentral controller, toward aiding new stations scanning for the network.

2. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising adjusting frequency or timing of its transmitted signals, inresponse to receiving said determined signal transmission form, to aidnetwork scanning by other stations.

3. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising adjusting beam width of its transmitted signals, in responseto receiving said determined signal transmission form, to aid networkscanning by other stations.

4. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising adjusting directionality of its transmitted signals, inresponse to receiving said determined signal transmission form, to aidnetwork scanning by other stations.

5. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on which antenna sector was used whendiscovering a new station.

6. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on active links being utilized asinformation for the event associated with a newly discovered station.

7. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on management signals as informationfor the event associated with a newly discovered station.

8. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform steps oftransmitting beacon frames or notification frames that incorporate eventinformation from said data base to perform said exchanging informationfrom said data base.

9. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidbeacon frames or notification frames can incorporate one or more eventdata elements.

10. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein eachsaid event data element comprises an element identification, length,station identification, type of event, time stamp, data for the eventand status for the data base.

11. An apparatus for wireless communication in a network, comprising:(a) a wireless communication circuit configured for wirelesslycommunicating with other wireless communication stations utilizingdirectional millimeter-wave (mmW) communications having a plurality ofantenna pattern sectors each having different transmission directions;(b) a processor coupled to said wireless communication circuit within astation configured for operating on the network; (c) a non-transitorymemory storing instructions executable by the processor; and (d) whereinsaid instructions, when executed by the processor, perform stepscomprising: (d)(i) collecting information on a newly discovered stationand recording an event, associated with the newly discovered station, ina data base; (d)(ii) exchanging information from said data base withother station entities on the network comprising either a centralcoordinator entity or other stations in the network; (d)(iii)determining a signal transmission form based on information receivedfrom a network station; (d)(iv) transmitting the determined signaltransmission form to stations in the network as said wirelesscommunication circuit operates as either a central coordinator or aregular station; and (d)(v) adjusting signal transmission, as directedin a signal transmission form as received from other stations or acentral controller, toward aiding new stations scanning for the network;(d)(vi) wherein one or more of said signal transmission adjustments isselected from a group of transmission forms consisting of adjustingfrequency or timing of transmitted signals, adjusting beam width oftransmitted signals, and adjusting directionality of transmittedsignals.

12. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on which antenna sector was useddiscovering a new station.

13. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on active links being utilized asinformation for the event to be utilized together with information abouta newly discovered station.

14. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on management signals as informationfor the event to be utilized together with information about a newlydiscovered station.

15. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform steps oftransmitting beacon frames or notification frames that incorporate eventinformation from said data base to perform said exchanging informationfrom said data base.

16. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein saidbeacon frames or notification frames can incorporate one or more eventdata elements.

17. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein eachsaid event data element comprises an element identification, length,station identification, type of event, time stamp, data for the eventand status for the data base.

18. A method for performing wireless communication in a network,comprising: (a) wirelessly communicating, from a wireless communicationcircuit to other wireless communication stations, utilizing directionalmillimeter-wave (mmW) communications from a plurality of antenna patternsectors each having different transmission directions; (b) collectinginformation on a newly discovered station by programming executing onthe wireless communication circuit, information about said newlydiscovered station is recorded in a data base as an event associatedwith the newly discovered station; (c) exchanging information from saiddata base with other entities on the network comprising either a centralcoordinator entity or other stations in the network; (d) determining asignal transmission form based on information received from anothernetwork station; (e) transmitting the determined signal transmissionform to stations in the network as said wireless communication circuitoperates as either a central coordinator or a regular station; and (f)adjusting signal transmission, as indicated in a determined signaltransmission form as received from other stations or a centralcontroller, to aid new stations scanning for the network.

19. The method of any preceding or following embodiment, wherein one ormore of said signal transmission adjustments is selected from a group oftransmission forms consisting of adjusting frequency or timing of itstransmitted signals, adjusting beam width of its transmitted signals,and adjusting directionality of its transmitted signals.

20. The method of any preceding or following embodiment, furthercomprising: (a) collecting one or more elements of network informationas selected from a group of network communication event informationconsisting of antenna sector used when discovering a new station, activelinks being utilized when a new station is discovered, and detectedmanagement signals; and (b) incorporating event information from saiddata base into beacon frame and/or notification frame transmissions toexchange information from said data base.

As used herein, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” may includeplural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Reference to an object in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.”

As used herein, the term “set” refers to a collection of one or moreobjects. Thus, for example, a set of objects can include a single objector multiple objects.

As used herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are used todescribe and account for small variations. When used in conjunction withan event or circumstance, the terms can refer to instances in which theevent or circumstance occurs precisely as well as instances in which theevent or circumstance occurs to a close approximation. When used inconjunction with a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range ofvariation of less than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such asless than or equal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equalto ±3%, less than or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less thanor equal to ±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to±0.05%. For example, “substantially” aligned can refer to a range ofangular variation of less than or equal to ±10°, such as less than orequal to ±5°, less than or equal to ±4°, less than or equal to ±3°, lessthan or equal to ±2°, less than or equal to ±1°, less than or equal to±0.5°, less than or equal to ±0.1°, or less than or equal to ±0.05°.

Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values may sometimesbe presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that suchrange format is used for convenience and brevity and should beunderstood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified aslimits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical valuesor sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical valueand sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the rangeof about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitlyrecited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individualratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such asabout 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth.

Although the description herein contains many details, these should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments.Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fullyencompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilledin the art.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of thedisclosed embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in theart are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended tobe encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element,component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, ormethod step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element hereinis to be construed as a “means plus function” element unless the elementis expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. No claim elementherein is to be construed as a “step plus function” element unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “step for”.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for wireless communication in anetwork, comprising: (a) a wireless communication circuit configured forwirelessly communicating with other wireless communication stationsutilizing directional millimeter-wave (mmW) communications having aplurality of antenna pattern sectors each having different transmissiondirections; (b) a processor coupled to said wireless communicationcircuit within a station configured for operating on the network; (c) anon-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor;and (d) wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor,perform steps comprising: (i) collecting information on a newlydiscovered station and recording an event within a data base, containinginformation about the newly discovered station; (ii) exchanginginformation from said data base with other entities on the networkcomprising either a central coordinator entity or other stations in thenetwork; (iii) determining a signal transmission form based oninformation received from a network station; (iv) transmitting thedetermined signal transmission form to other stations in the network assaid wireless communication circuit operates as either a centralcoordinator or a regular station; and (v) adjusting signal transmissionsaccording to a received determined signal transmission form from otherstations or a central controller, toward aiding new stations scanningfor the network.
 2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising adjusting frequency or timing of its transmitted signals, inresponse to receiving said determined signal transmission form, to aidnetwork scanning by other stations.
 3. The apparatus as recited in claim1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor furtherperform steps comprising adjusting beam width of its transmittedsignals, in response to receiving said determined signal transmissionform, to aid network scanning by other stations.
 4. The apparatus asrecited in claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by theprocessor further perform steps comprising adjusting directionality ofits transmitted signals, in response to receiving said determined signaltransmission form, to aid network scanning by other stations.
 5. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said instructions when executedby the processor further perform steps comprising collecting informationon which antenna sector was used when discovering a new station.
 6. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said instructions when executedby the processor further perform steps comprising collecting informationon active links being utilized as information for the event associatedwith a newly discovered station.
 7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1,wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further performsteps comprising collecting information on management signals asinformation for the event associated with a newly discovered station. 8.The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said instructions whenexecuted by the processor further perform steps of transmitting beaconframes or notification frames that incorporate event information fromsaid data base to perform said exchanging information from said database.
 9. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein said beacon framesor notification frames can incorporate one or more event data elements.10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein each said event dataelement comprises an element identification, length, stationidentification, type of event, time stamp, data for the event and statusfor the data base.
 11. An apparatus for wireless communication in anetwork, comprising: (a) a wireless communication circuit configured forwirelessly communicating with other wireless communication stationsutilizing directional millimeter-wave (mmW) communications having aplurality of antenna pattern sectors each having different transmissiondirections; (b) a processor coupled to said wireless communicationcircuit within a station configured for operating on the network; (c) anon-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor;and (d) wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor,perform steps comprising: (i) collecting information on a newlydiscovered station and recording an event, associated with the newlydiscovered station, in a data base; (ii) exchanging information fromsaid data base with other station entities on the network comprisingeither a central coordinator entity or other stations in the network;(iii) determining a signal transmission form based on informationreceived from a network station; (iv) transmitting the determined signaltransmission form to stations in the network as said wirelesscommunication circuit operates as either a central coordinator or aregular station; and (v) adjusting signal transmission, as directed in asignal transmission form as received from other stations or a centralcontroller, toward aiding new stations scanning for the network; (vi)wherein one or more of said signal transmission adjustments is selectedfrom a group of transmission forms consisting of adjusting frequency ortiming of transmitted signals, adjusting beam width of transmittedsignals, and adjusting directionality of transmitted signals.
 12. Theapparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein said instructions whenexecuted by the processor further perform steps comprising collectinginformation on which antenna sector was used discovering a new station.13. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein said instructions whenexecuted by the processor further perform steps comprising collectinginformation on active links being utilized as information for the eventto be utilized together with information about a newly discoveredstation.
 14. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein saidinstructions when executed by the processor further perform stepscomprising collecting information on management signals as informationfor the event to be utilized together with information about a newlydiscovered station.
 15. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, whereinsaid instructions when executed by the processor further perform stepsof transmitting beacon frames or notification frames that incorporateevent information from said data base to perform said exchanginginformation from said data base.
 16. The apparatus as recited in claim15, wherein said beacon frames or notification frames can incorporateone or more event data elements.
 17. The apparatus as recited in claim16, wherein each said event data element comprises an elementidentification, length, station identification, type of event, timestamp, data for the event and status for the data base.
 18. A method forperforming wireless communication in a network, comprising: (a)wirelessly communicating, from a wireless communication circuit to otherwireless communication stations, utilizing directional millimeter-wave(mmW) communications from a plurality of antenna pattern sectors eachhaving different transmission directions; (b) collecting information ona newly discovered station by programming executing on the wirelesscommunication circuit, information about said newly discovered stationis recorded in a data base as an event associated with the newlydiscovered station; (c) exchanging information from said data base withother entities on the network comprising either a central coordinatorentity or other stations in the network; (d) determining a signaltransmission form based on information received from another networkstation; (e) transmitting the determined signal transmission form tostations in the network as said wireless communication circuit operatesas either a central coordinator or a regular station; and (f) adjustingsignal transmission, as indicated in a determined signal transmissionform as received from other stations or a central controller, to aid newstations scanning for the network.
 19. The method as recited in claim18, wherein one or more of said signal transmission adjustments isselected from a group of transmission forms consisting of adjustingfrequency or timing of its transmitted signals, adjusting beam width ofits transmitted signals, and adjusting directionality of its transmittedsignals.
 20. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising: (a)collecting one or more elements of network information as selected froma group of network communication event information consisting of antennasector used when discovering a new station, active links being utilizedwhen a new station is discovered, and detected management signals; and(b) incorporating event information from said data base into beaconframe and/or notification frame transmissions to exchange informationfrom said data base.